Griffith Park Site Favored for New Children’s Museum

After more than a decade of searching for a new home, Los Angeles Children’s Museum officials have set their sights on city-owned land on the fringes of Griffith Park, an area that could serve more children than the current cramped space downtown.

This 6 1/2-acre site, near the southeastern edge of the park, is quickly winning favor over another proposed park location across the street from Travel Town Museum, which met with intense opposition from environmental and equestrian groups.

Museum officials say that the Riverside Drive property is ideal for attracting more visitors. The site is centrally located, has easy freeway access, has grass and trees, and ample space for parking.

“I think this particular site we’re looking at now is far and away the best site that we’ve considered,” said Candace Barrett, the museum’s executive director.

She said the museum’s current downtown quarters--atop the subterranean Los Angeles Mall on Main Street--was supposed to be a temporary home. But the search for a new site has dragged on for years. The museum, which serves 200,000 visitors a year, will celebrate its 20th birthday this month.

Last week, the Recreation and Parks Commission gave preliminary approval for the 3224 Riverside Drive site. City Council President John Ferraro, whose district includes Los Feliz, is strongly backing it. Also, most of the groups that opposed the Travel Town location favor the new site. It even has the support of L.A. Shares, a nonprofit group that is housed in a building on the site and would be forced to relocate.

But it’s not smooth sailing just yet. Some residents are objecting to the site for the precise reason that the museum wants to move there.

“The express purpose of moving the museum is to increase users,” said Chuck Soter, a board member of the Los Feliz Improvement Assn., with a dues-paying membership of 1,200 residents . “But if you increase users, then on weekends, those kids are going to be coming in their parents’ cars. That intersection is already gridlocked on weekends.”

The proposed site sits off Los Feliz Boulevard, a congested east-west thoroughfare used by motorists heading to Griffith Park and the Greek Theatre, or passing through to get to Hollywood or Glendale.

Museum and city officials contend that they have searched long and hard for several years now, and this option is the best.

In the last decade, the private, nonprofit museum considered moving into the old May Co. building near the County Museum of Art in the mid-Wilshire district, as well as expanding its space in the Los Angeles Mall. Those and other efforts fell through.

Douglas Ring, the president of the museum’s Board of Trustees, said the 17,000-square-foot facility--where children can pretend to drive a bus, see themselves on TV and paint one another’s faces--was originally designed for a Japanese restaurant. It lacks convenient drop-off sites for school buses, does not have grass or trees, and has limited space.

Renee Weitzer, Ferraro’s chief field deputy, said the site is an excellent location because it will be easily accessible to children from all areas, including the San Fernando Valley.

A Valley group had considered building a separate children’s museum closer to home if the Los Angeles Children’s Museum did not move to a central location. In response to traffic concerns, Weitzer said most visitors to the museum will be coming by bus.

Councilwoman Rita Walters, who has opposed the museum’s move from her downtown district, thinks the Riverside Drive site is a better option than Travel Town, said her legislative deputy, Rodney Collins.

However, she still wants the museum to stay somewhere downtown, where it is more accessible to people who are dependent on public transportation.

Museum officials said it is unclear what will happen to the downtown space, should they move, and are considering keeping the site as a museum annex.

A study by the Department of Public Works acknowledged that Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive are heavily traveled thoroughfares at all times, but concluded that museum-generated traffic would not significantly impact the roadways.

Neil Drucker, a supervising engineer in the Department of Public Works, which is the lead agency investigating the project, said a Griffith Park shuttle system could ease traffic problems.

The museum also faces a funding challenge. It now has a $1.5-million annual budget, half from ticket sales and half from corporate, foundation and individual contributions, Barrett said.

A $40-million capital campaign must be launched to cover construction, exhibits and operations. Museum officials hope to lease the museum property for $1 a year, the same agreement they now hold with the city. But without a site, it would be virtually impossible to attract donors, officials said.

The museum did score a victory in May when the City Council voted to allocate $9.4 million of Proposition K funds for construction. The 1996 voter-approved bond issue pays for parks and recreational facilities. But a condition of receiving the Proposition K funding is that museum officials must come up with close to $2 million.

Although Gov. Gray Davis earlier vetoed a proposed $2-million state budget allocation to the museum, Ring said museum officials are going to try again.

A public hearing on the proposed site is scheduled for Sept. 15, 3 p.m., at Friendship Hall, 3201 Riverside Drive.